Puppy Love
by Dibsthe1
Summary: Say, what did happen to the puppy Dib and Gaz used to have? Final chapter up.
1. Chapter 1

Do they work us over here! Most days I have nine classes in a row, soon to be upped to ten. And if I wrote like mad when I came home too, I'd never get any rest.

This fic started as a recollection in Karma Circle 03: Older Brother, Younger Sister, but rapidly expanded to be much larger. I'd already been thinking about this subject for quite some time, since thejennamonster brought up the question of what happened to that puppy that Membrane reminded Gaz to feed in "Future Dib." And when I read AzureF's fics, "Realization" I saw how much more real and believable the physical setting becomes when one describes the weather and the seasons.

Disclaimer: Once again I don't own Invader Zim. But I have owned several dogs.

**Puppy Love**

The new school year had just started and with it, the fall. Outside, each passing morning took just a little bit longer to warm up than it had the day before. But once the sun rose high enough, it could still be quite warm indeed, and by the time people headed home in the afternoon, many of them would be carrying the same jackets and sweaters they so needed that very morning. Today more gold peeked through the leaves waving outside the kitchen window.

It was still early enough in the morning for the temperature to be much cooler outdoors than indoors, so a thick coating of steam gathered inside the kitchen windows as Professor Membrane's coffee began to brew. Soon deciding that this had already taken too long, he put the kettle on to boil. Instant coffee would save 55.5 seconds of his valuable time! But wouldn't really "instant" coffee be something you could drink as soon as you opened the jar? The Professor resolved that his next project, after he'd perfected Super Toast, would be Super Coffee!

He reached over Dib and Gaz, eating their breakfast cereal, to place his latest batch of toast on the table in front of them.

"And here is today's Super Toast... prototype!" he announced dramatically. "Eat up, son, eat up, daughter, before I get famous and I just might have to be away on a business trip from time to time! As always, I will be expecting you to rate this batch for me on taste, texture, and the general level of energy you experience today!"

Tired though he was of eating toast day after day, Dib figured he'd better take two slices of toast in case his father's prediction came true; not to be outdone, Gaz quickly grabbed three.

After asking them the usual questions of how skool was coming along, the Professor said something that neither of them saw coming.

"Your mother thinks it would be good to get you a puppy," he said suddenly, quickly finishing his mug of coffee before reaching for his briefcase. "You know, for... company and protection!"

Dib quickly glanced at Gaz but she kept her eyes on their father as if nothing at all was unusual about what he had just said. Who knows, maybe their mother actually had discussed this with him before...

Setting the empty mug down on the counter and heading for the door, the Professor made an additional observation with Dib in mind, "... and son, the little extra responsibility might even make you less insane," as if Dib could get any more responsible than he was already.

Dib sent another cautious glance Gaz's way; this time she noticed, and before he'd spoken so much as one word, her glare was already telling him to shut up.

- - - - - 

A few weeks later, Dib and Gaz were coming home from skool as they always did, Gaz elbowing Dib aside to make it into the house first, marking that microscopic accomplishment by smirking as if she'd "won" something, before sinking back into her usual apathy.

Quickly recovering, Dib went to close the door behind them. Now that skool was behind him for another day he could turn on the TV! Or get a bottle of soda! Or check his computer for a message from the Swollen Eyeballs! Skool was out! Yaay!

Today, however, something completely unexpected happened. Dib had barely closed the door when something came scampering out of nowhere, its claws clicking across the floor... and a puppy rushed up to greet them, all sniffing and licking, all wiggling and wobbling under their feet! Once more shoving Dib aside, Gaz stooped to pick it up.

The puppy was tiny, not much bigger than an adult's hand. Its wooly hair was a light caramel color, slightly darker on its tail. From below its pointed little ears, its eyes peered out at them like glittering buttons; its nose constantly sniffed at everything. Dib could see a white bib across the front of its chest.

Dib was utterly delighted. He hadn't dared to hope that his father would actually honor a promise of something as wonderful as this. "A puppy!" he squealed, reaching out to pat it, but Gaz quickly turned away from him, keeping the puppy to herself.

Gaz refused to allow him to hold the puppy for even a second. Much though he longed for his turn, Dib could hardly just take something out of her hands without her attacking him like a savage animal. Instead, he tried pointing out that she'd had the puppy ever since they got home and that it was his turn now. Not that the mature and civilized approach did him any good; Gaz merely snarled her withering contempt for any tactic other than her own brute force. "Whiner!"

When the Professor finally came home... much later, Dib was still waiting for a chance to hold the puppy.

"I see your mother's introduced you to the latest addition to our family! How do you like him?" the Professor asked, stooping down a little.

"He's great!" Dib rejoiced, despite not having been able to actually hold the puppy yet.

"He's okay I guess," Gaz muttered. This new game, keeping something away from somebody else who also wanted it, was still fun. This one might not have enough explosions, but she was still winning... as she always did.

"Have you thought of a name for him yet?" was the Professor's next question, and by the time Dib had narrowed his suggestions down to two, "Sundog" and "Doggerel," and was still coming up with a clever combination of both, Gaz had already shouted, Piggy!"

"Piggy! I like that!" The Professor chuckled, rubbing his chin as he straightened up. "Now pay attention, this is important," he said, as if coming to a particularly crucial part of a university lecture. "Statistics show that approximately 2.2 million dogs end up in an animal shelter each year... and depending on the year, from 55 to 58 of those end up being euthanized ()... but that's not going to happen here, is it? Of course not! He will return companionship and protection at least the equal of the care you give him!"

Gaz had gone back to looking at the puppy again, but Dib nodded slowly and solemnly, looking up at his father. Of course, he could already guess easily enough who'd end up doing most of the work.

"You can divide up the chores," the Professor continued. "One of you will do inside chores, a - "

"ME!" snapped Gaz, much to Dib's surprise, until he realized a second later what that would mean. Gaz would get to feed the puppy, give him water and put him to bed. Dib's part would be cleaning up the yard after the puppy and coaxing him into the vet's office.

Having exhausted his children's allowance of attention for the day, the Professor headed downstairs once again before his experiments fell too far behind schedule.

Dib followed Gaz as she took Piggy into the kitchen, where she found nothing with meat in it except some bologna. Even though Dib had been planning to have it for his lunch the next day he knew the puppy had to eat something, so he didn't object, not even silently. Instead he made a mental note to go to the grocery store soon for dog food and more bologna. Gaz set the plate on the floor and they crouched on the kitchen floor, one on either side of the puppy, watching him eat.

As soon as Piggy had gobbled up the last of the bologna, he licked his lips before sniffing around the plate once more just in case he missed a bite somehow. This was Gaz's cue to carry him back to the living room, where she placed him on the couch beside her. When she reached once again for her GameSlave, Dib began hoping anew that he was about to get his chance with the puppy. And as Piggy no longer seemed to be the center of Gaz's attention, he began looking for a way off the couch to investigate something else in his new home. But without taking her eyes off her game, Gaz yanked the puppy back to sit right next to her and looped her arm around him, glaring at Dib as if only she was allowed to even touch the puppy indoors.

Finally realizing he wouldn't get a chance to hold Piggy any time soon, Dib slowly headed for the stairs to see if the Swollen Eyeballs had sent him any messages since that morning... putting on speed with anticipation of telling Darkbootie about the new puppy!

- - - - - 

_This is going to work out great, _thought Gaz._ Finally, somebody who won't leave me, and who even knows how to keep his mouth shut. Dib won't shut up until I punch him in the mouth... and THEN'S when he goes away! He's supposed to always hang around just in case I want anything; he's not supposed to do anything I don't like. Ever. _

Only the sounds of Gaz's video game now disturbed the silence. Piggy began to wriggle, but this made the arm clamp down tighter over him. Only when he kept still did the arm ease its grip. Sighing, Piggy put his head on his front paws and was soon asleep.

- - - - - 

Immersed in his homework, Dib wondered for half a second who Gaz could be yelling at to shut up if they weren't even in the same room. Then he remembered and headed for the living room.

Piggy was wandering uneasily up and down the couch. At one point he looked like he was about to nudge Gaz, backing down at the last second.

"You know that whole bugging me thing... you're doing it again. I said... I'd let you out... IN A MINUTE!" Immediately Gaz returned to her game, something which always made her forget anything else even existed.

Piggy restlessly jumped from one front paw to the other; he obviously needed to get down from the couch yet was strictly forbidden to do so. The whimpering sounded frantic enough that Dib dared to risk Gaz's vicious temper; what would happen if the puppy had an accident right next to her didn't bear thinking about.

"He needs to go outside, Gaz, and that is my job after all."

"Then _take_ him outside, Dib," Gaz ordered, seizing the opportunity to sound as if she was speaking to a servant, gloating and smirking as if she'd won some mysterious contest of wills that only she knew about. Dib hastily found an old cord lying around and looped it around Piggy's collar before taking him outside.

After having been forced to wait so long the puppy went almost immediately, but now that he could finally enjoy having Piggy all to himself, Dib was in no particular hurry to return indoors. As soon as Piggy finished, Dib sat down on the front step, letting the puppy sniff and lick his fingers before gently scratching all around the fluffy neck. The little tail began to wag.

When he finally stood up, Dib began to amble down the walk just for somewhere to go, the puppy happily bouncing along after him. When Dib reluctantly turned around to go back toward the house again, the puppy suddenly found something to sniff at... and something else... and then something else...

They ended up walking all the way to the corner before turning around, and the trip back took just as long. Dib enjoyed every moment of it. He never knew that beetles, snails and discarded gum wrappers could be so interesting.

The temperature was striking the happy medium; it was neither hot nor cold. From behind a large pink cloud, the setting sun was bathing each golden tree in a golden light; the entire world seemed to be made of gold. _This is a golden evening,_ Dib thought, wallowing in contentment. Long shadows lay across the cool grass, and the few voices Dib did hear sounded subdued and far away; pleasantly tired from working all day, everyone was now ready for a quiet, peaceful evening at home. A car rested in nearly every driveway; here and there windows were lighting up like remote suns.

It had been a very long time indeed since Dib had enjoyed simply being outdoors this much. As always, Dib felt removed from all the family socializing, but this time it was in a good way. For these few moments, he was finally able savor the joy of having a new puppy.

"What took you so long?" Gaz demanded the second he opened the door, patting the couch next to her to order Piggy to jump up next to her.

"It took him a while to go," Dib said. Glancing at the puppy, Dib was positive Piggy winked at him as if to say, "I won't tell!'

Dib's chance to take Piggy outside came a little earlier the next day; this time he made the offer right after Piggy had finished eating. Despite the earlier hour, the temperature was the same as it had been when Dib stepped outside with the puppy the previous day. But Dib didn't notice. He only knew that he enjoyed this walk every bit as much. It didn't even bother him that it was pouring rain.

End of Chapter One

_(A/N) Figures as reported by the National Council for Pet Population Study and Policy. _

_To be continued... _


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Once again I don't own Invader Zim. But I have owned several dogs.

Chapter Two

After wolfing down the pizza to the crust, Gaz tossed the crust to the puppy before unpausing her game and sinking back into it once more. Piggy instantly finished off the scrap and looked at her once again, tail wagging, hoping for another. In the past few weeks he had grown noticeably; a crust no longer satisfied him.

Gaz screwed up her face. That selfish dog. First he was perfectly happy sitting next to her, contented with what she gave him; now he was getting more and more ungrateful. "You thought you were getting ALL the pizza! Well you know what Piggy, you're NOT. You're just NOT!"

His tail wagging, Piggy lifted his ears and cocked his head as if trying to figure out how soon the pizza Gaz had just mentioned would appear.

Having finished washing the dishes, Dib now came into the living room. "Did you feed the puppy, Gaz?"

"Yes I fed the puppy!" Gaz repeated in a mocking singsong. Not only her father, but now Dib was nagging her to feed the puppy too... every single day! _Everything always got done anyway somehow, so why did they always make such a big deal out of it_, she thought resentfully.

Dib now knew Gaz wouldn't object to his taking Piggy outdoors. He had barely pursed his lips to whistle before the puppy had leapt from the couch and was bounding toward him.

By this point, Dib made sure to leave by the back door. Once in the kitchen, he made sure Piggy had a full dinner and refilled Piggy's water dish as he waited for the dog to finish eating. The daily tasks that came with owning a puppy had already become too much trouble for Gaz; so much for Gaz taking care of the indoor chores. Once again Dib was taking up the slack for her like older siblings everywhere, as once again all the responsibility for doing every single thing in the house was ending up on his seven year old shoulders. He was now adding the indoor dog-related chores to his original outdoor ones.

But Dib resented none of the additional work. Not only did this allow him to spend more time with Piggy, Dib could tell that the puppy actually appreciated his efforts. Once more Piggy looked up from the empty dog dish and licked his lips, and the satisfaction in his eyes was thanks enough for Dib. Once he finished drinking, Piggy finally walked over to have the rope slipped over his collar before before they slipped out the back door.

Dark now closed in a little earlier with each passing evening, and it was growing noticeably cooler. The leaves, now lying in lifeless piles along the ground, added to the general feeling of chill and gloom. Their walks had lengthened to take in the entire block, two blocks if Gaz was in one of her viler moods. As the boy strode along the sidewalk, peering around carefully for any sign of anything out of the ordinary, the puppy trotted briskly by his side, his ears flipping up and down, head turning from side to side as he took in the sights, sounds and smells of the neighborhood.

Dib smiled whenever he recalled the evening when he KNEW he'd definitely seen something fluttering from a neighbor's front porch. So positive was he that he'd finally seen an actual ghost, he'd nearly fallen over his own feet in his excitement. Stopped by the sudden pull on the leash, and picking up the boy's agitation, Piggy looked around but could see nothing unusual let alone dangerous. He turned his head around to take the rope in his teeth and pull on it, in his impatience shaking his head as if saying no, and Dib realized he was just looking at an early Hallowe'en decoration.

By the time he turned the final corner to return home, Dib invariably felt genuinely happy. Only now did Dib realize just how lonely he had been, now that he finally had a companion that did something other than tell him to shut up.

- - - - - - - 

Having brought Piggy back to her at last, Gaz patted the couch to order the puppy to jump up next to her. _Dib couldn't just sit there keeping his mouth shut until she wanted him to fetch something. Easy though that is, Dib's still too stupid to do even that much. But the puppy'd keep quiet. _While Gaz might ignore the puppy for the most part, she still wanted him there.

Piggy looked at Dib, sighed, and walked over to the couch, then jumped up and sat down, his eyes fixed on Gaz in case she wanted him to do anything. Gaz never patted him or held him for very long these days. Piggy sighed, following Dib upstairs with his eyes. Whatever he did up there, it was more fun than this.

- - - - - - - -

The girl didn't notice the room was empty as she focused every atom of her attention on the fake world behind a screen no larger than her own face. On the couch next to her a puppy abruptly dropped down on his elbows, a dog's charming invitation to play... to chase and run and wrestle and explore, to play a game with somebody other than herself for once! When she didn't move, he yipped. Still no reaction... other than the darkening of an already sour face. He then did a clumsy dance up and down the couch, reaching out his paws in her direction, inviting her to play with him...

But not much could compete with a video game for the girl's attention. "Quit bugging me."

Only three words... but those three words were filled with menace even a dog could sense. The puppy stopped dancing and slowly sat down, then finally lay down and lowered his head to his front paws. He sighed and lay still, moving nothing more than his eyes.

The girl played on, surrounded by the silence of the empty living room.

- - - - - - - -

Piggy started at the sudden sound, thinking Gaz had spoken to him. She hadn't. The sound again! Piggy jerked his head back up and faced the door, ears alert, trembling...

Something big was coming up the walk... coming straight for the house! Before Gaz could grab him, Piggy leaped off the couch and sprang to the door, making as much noise as if the Boogeyman himself was opening the door and barging right in.

"Shut up!" barked Gaz. "I said shut up!"

When the doorbell rang Piggy got louder than ever. Dib ran to answer the door before things really got ugly, and found nobody more dangerous than a delivery man from his father's favorite scientific supply house. "Quiet, Piggy, it's okay! He's good."

"Does Professor Membrane live here?" asked the delivery man, reading the name from the label without even looking at Dib.

"Yes... I mean no. I mean, he lives here but he's not right home now," said Dib. The delivery man didn't realize just how good a question he'd just asked.

Both Piggy and Gaz continued to bark, so that both Dib and the delivery man had to shout to be heard over the din. "I have to hand this right to Professor Membrane."

"He's at work right now... but he does live here." Dib reached out his hand.

"Well, I have to hand deliver this to Professor Membrane."

"I'm his son! He lives here, I tell you!" Dib managed to catch a glimpse of the address label. It was their home address, all right; usually the Professor had the really important stuff delivered to his work address and had the bill sent to his home address. Dib could picture his father receiving the bill at work, briefly wondering what he'd ordered this time before setting the bill aside and immediately forgetting about it.

"Where is he? I need to hand deliver this." The delivery man was sounding like a broken record.

Dib picked through the odds and ends on the table next to the door until he found an old envelope with his father's work address on it, which he handed to the delivery guy and soothed the puppy. "Piggy! Be quiet! It's okay!" Piggy uttered a final warning as Dib closed the door.

"Both of you shut up!" Gaz was now barking, still playing her game without having made one move toward answering the door herself. This time she didn't pat the couch to summon Piggy. "Is that dumb dog going to bother me like that every time somebody comes to the door?"

"Piggy didn't know why he was here," Dib explained. "Dogs watch for danger and protect us; that's what they do."

"Get... this... through... your... head... there WAS no danger, stupid!" Gaz growled.

"We know that, but Piggy doesn't."

"Just make that dumb dog shut up... before I doom you both!"

"Shhh, Piggy, shhh." Dib stroked the puppy's head as they both stared out the window after the departing delivery man. The dog had wanted to protect them. Actual danger or no actual danger, you'd think such an urge would be appreciated at least a little, wouldn't you?

End of Chapter Two

_(A/N) Before anyone starts wondering, yes, that last sentence refers to Dib himself as well. _


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Invader Zim. But I have owned several dogs.

Chapter Three

Piggy still insisted on jumping up on both Dib as well as Gaz when they got home from school, which Gaz resented to no end. She wanted the puppy to jump up on her and her alone... as long as he didn't leave any dirty pawprints on her dress, that is. Dib wondered if Gaz would still be showing even this much interest if not for the competition he provided.

After supper, as Gaz reclined with her GameSlave on the couch in arrogant idleness, Dib did the chores that needed doing before taking Piggy for his daily walk. By now, Dib was teaching Piggy to sit down whenever they came to a Don't Walk sign; it wouldn't do for Piggy to get the habit of darting out into the road, leash or no leash!

This in turn suggested another way for Dib to spend more time with the puppy. Before going indoors again, whenever the weather permitted he would sit on the step to teach Piggy other commands, rewarding him with scraps of cookies or dog biscuits he'd picked up in the kitchen on their way out.

"Sit" was easy, even though for a long time Dib's "Good boy!" got Piggy standing up again, wagging his tail with excitement. "Shake" was pretty easy; once Dib made sure he was still holding Piggy's paw when he rewarded him, the puppy caught on so quickly that he began offering a paw to Dib any time he wanted something.

"Beg," however, wasn't working so well. When the puppy kept falling over onto his side, Dib figured he was still too young and decided to wait until later to teach this one.

"You're a good dog... AND you're smart... just like me!" Dib would praise him before going in. With each evening that passed, the warmth was ebbing earlier and earlier, and each time they called it a day, the air was colder than it had been that same time the day before. Dib wondered if the puppy would still want to go for these walks when it got really cold out and snow was everywhere.

Although Gaz's interest in Piggy had worn off enough for her to not hold him under her arm like a teddy bear all evening, it had not worn off enough to the point that she would let him walk away even in the complete absence of any attention from her. If he walked away, Dib might get something she didn't have, the puppy. Gaz couldn't stand that. Despite the initial thrill having worn off, Gaz insisted that the puppy sit beside her as she played her GameSlave, not letting him leave her side, yanking him back whenever it tried to leave for any reason.

Then, whenever her game got exciting, Piggy would instantly pick up her tense mood and would give her ear a timid lick to show his concern. This never got the reaction he wanted; she always elbowed him aside, growling, "Stop making me lose my game!"

Even when Piggy was just lying next to her, without even bothering her, Gaz occasionally shoved him away when she noticed the wooly puppy fur, which he was just beginning to shed, lying in clumps all over her dress.

By this time, Gaz was so used to assuming Piggy would just be close by that he managed to slip down from the couch without her noticing. That he was now now large enough to let himself down to the floor without making a noisy thump helped a lot.

When Gaz finished her game, she stretched and went to rub the puppy's fur before starting up a new one. Only then did she even notice that he was gone. Even though she deigned to offer him so little attention that she hadn't even noticed when he left, this infuriated her to no end.

_Everybody leaves me. First, it was Mom. Then it was Dad. Even that wasn't enough. Then it was Dib... and now it's that stupid dog. Well, good riddance. He was getting to be a nuisance anyway. Forever bugging me just when my game was getting good. I fed him pizza crusts every day... but NOOOO, that wasn't enough. And I filled his water dish, right up to the brim, every single week, and this is the thanks I get for it. Fine then. Let him go off with Dib. They deserve each other. They both just take and take and take and TAKE and they never give a single thing back... ! _

Gaz hit the "New Game" button savagely and before long was once again pushing the buttons more and more quickly, more and more furiously as the figures on the screen flew to pieces screaming. It wasn't enough that she had to make Dib shut up when he was yapping about his bigfoots and his ghosts, his stupid this and his stupid that. Finally, for some reason Gaz could never figure out, he used to walk away and leave her. But even that wasn't enough. She thought she could at least have Piggy! _So that stupid dog chose Dib over me, did he... well I don't want him either then. He was just a nuisance anyway. Good riddance. _

Darkness curled up in the corners of the empty room where Gaz sat huddled on the couch, throwing herself more and more into her video game. Dib ran around all the time getting Everything! It wasn't fair.

- - - - - - -

Piggy wandered all over the house looking for Dib in each room. At least Dib acted like he was alive!

Piggy soon picked up the sound of Dib talking to himself and followed it upstairs. He found Dib crouched on the bed next to a long black thing sticking in through the window.

Piggy's ears perked up. _Is there something to eat in that?_ he wondered.

Finally Dib looked into the small end of it, and before long was so deep in concentration that he didn't even notice Piggy jumping up on the bed next to him. Well, that was easy to fix. Piggy went up close to Dib and began to lick his ear.

Dib burst into loud giggling. "Ahhh! Piggy! Now I have to find Mars all over again." As he searched, Dib rested a hand on the puppy's neck, scratching it absently but steadily. Piggy lay still as long as he was scratching...

"Hey, I found it! Now I wonder if I can just find any of those little green men... "

Dib soon found that Piggy lay still (thereby allowing him a steadier view through the telescope) as long as he rested a hand on the puppy's back and offered an occasional scratch. Finally turning away from the telescope and looking at the dog, Dib noticed the clumps of light cream fur all over his trench coat. "So... you're a SHEEP dog!" he chuckled, rubbing off the hairs as he looked around for a brush.

- - - - - - -

Dib had just finished putting away the food items he'd picked up at the grocery store, and reached for the final few articles that belonged in the bathroom. The most surprising thing about finding Piggy already there was that the puppy had pulled the previous roll of toilet paper off the spindle and had reduced it to confetti, growling and shaking his ears as he wrestled with the offending length of paper. Noticing Dib, he looked brightly up from the tatters all around him and bounded toward the boy, wagging his tail as if thanking him for bringing yet more of these delightful toys to play with.

"NO! Bad dog... BAD dog," Dib scolded, as sternly as he could manage. Piggy stopped in his tracks, lowered himself to the floor and looked sheepishly in every direction but up into Dib's face. When the puppy's tail finally stopped wagging Dib started to clean up the scattered paper... trying as hard as he could not to burst out laughing instead at the puppy's totally innocent reaction!

Dib soon wound up his scolding. "Just don't do that any more, Piggy." Hearing the anger in his voice lessen, Piggy lifted a paw. Dib's heart melted as he reached out to gently take the paw and say, "It's okay, Piggy, it's okay. I'm not mad any more. Shake... good dog!"

By the time Dib had picked up the final shreds of paper, Piggy had found a container of foot powder and ran up and down the hall with it in his jaws, and when Dib saw the puffs of powder filling the air with every stride the puppy took, he couldn't hold it in any longer. In spite of the new mess, Dib fell to the floor paralyzed with laughter... and the puppy dropped the foot powder to lick his face, the long slippery tongue pushing straight up Dib's nose and making him laugh still harder.

- - - - - - -

Dib scratched the puppy's neck as he waited for Mysterious Mysteries to begin. The puppy tilted his head back to completely enjoy both the attention and the luxuriant scratching sensation. Gaz sat on the other end of the couch, playing one of her games.

"For years, the world has wondered, 'Are there bigfoots among us?'" said the announcer, as the words Bigfoot, Sasquatch, Yeti, and Abominable Snowman flashed by, followed by an image of misshapen footprints in the snow, to all be replaced by a large question mark fading in. "But we here at Mysterious Mysteries have always known the answer to that question. And that answer is a resounding 'Maybe.' Which is why, as always, we ask you, our viewers, to help us put an end to this question once and for all.

"Tonight... an exclusive tape of... BIGFOOT!" the announcer suddenly boomed. As Dib sprang bolt upright, Piggy jumped to his feet, looking around nervously, tensely on the alert.

"Shh," Dib said soothingly, holding the puppy to keep him from jumping around and bothering Gaz. Right when they were about to show an actual bigfoot clip was no time for the puppy to get noisy! Whenever Gaz reached the higher levels of her game Dib broke the silence at his peril, and this time both Dib and the puppy faced the same threat to keep quiet.

Why couldn't Gaz just play her games in her room where she wouldn't even hear the TV, Dib wondered briefly, before remembering why. Whenever he stood up to leave the living room for any reason, she would smirk and gloat as if she'd somehow "won" something or other. In Gaz's hysterically hypercompetitive view of the world, any sign of backing down immediately equalled losing.

"And as we always invite our viewers to send us proof of alie - uh, bigfoot existence, these viewers have done just that, along with a self-addressed stamped envelope."

But first an endless discussion went back and forth between a panel of paranormal experts, half of which insisted this was the real deal while the other half kept insisting it was yet another hoax. Dib could feel himself growing more and more tense, more and more excited. "Roll the tape, roll the tape!" he pleaded under his breath. Would it be yet another ambiguous shot that could be anything, like the usual shadows and lens flares that usually passed as "proof" of alien existence? He perched tensely on the very edge of the couch, his eyes locked on the TV.

By the time the tape finally played, Dib had butterflies in his stomach and Piggy was stamping his front paws up and down on the couch in an excitement that matched the boy's. Finally a grainy, shaky picture of some woods came on the screen, but no bigfoot! Just as Dib had resigned himself that it would be nothing more than a bear or some other brown and hairy creature, the bushes began to shake, and right across the entire screen, from left to right, came shuffling an unmistakably two-legged creature with long reddish brown hair! If Gaz hadn't been right alongside, hissing impatiently while her game beeped faster and faster, Dib would have shrieked. As it was every nerve in his body tingled, every hair stood on end.

Even with no idea what Dib was so excited about, Piggy's own hackles were bristling. And when he began to make threatening sounds at the TV, Gaz lost no time growling, "Shut that dog up."

"Shh, Piggy," said Dib, holding a hand over the puppy's muzzle. "It's okay."

Now that the show found itself with an actual Bigfoot tape, they played it over and over, backwards and forwards and in slow motion, with the paranormal experts heatedly debating the pros and cons back and forth, as through it all Dib carefully made sure Piggy stayed quiet. In his mingled excitement and anxiety Dib could almost believe he actually was not only on the trail of Bigfoot himself, but striving to keep up with a hunting dog as he did so!

By the time the show ended, with the experts becoming more and more divided, Dib was literally shaking. This was, beyond all doubt, the greatest, most exciting episode of Mysterious Mysteries he had ever seen!

Risking an audible sigh of relief, Dib sat back against the couch once again, looking fondly at the puppy and back at the TV as the credits began rolling over a still of Bigfoot. The reddish brown of the creature shone from the TV all over Piggy, and reflecting off the light caramel color of his coat, made the shaggy puppy look eerily like a miniature sasquatch himself.

When the Bigfoot image was finally replaced by the production company's logo, Dib turned off the TV and left Gaz to a silent living room, the puppy following him and Gaz smirking in a triumph that existed nowhere but in her own mind.

Dib went up to his room to somehow get started on something as mundane as homework. At least the puppy would keep him company as he did so.

"You know, I always watched Mysterious Mysteries alone before now. Well, Gaz was usually around, but she wasn't there to watch it. And when I tried telling her how cool it was, the nicest thing she ever said to me was, 'Shut up.' Now that I've got someone to watch it with, it's better than ever!" said Dib to the puppy. "I think I'll start calling you "Bigfoo- no. No, I think I'll call you 'Sasquatch,'" said Dib thoughtfully, scratching the puppy's head. "What do you think about that?"

The puppy looked up thoughtfully, and hearing the question in Dib's voice, sat down and offered a paw.

"Okay. We'll shake on it!"

_(A/N) One of my New Year's resolutions was quitting FFN for a while. I wondered if that would finally allow some stories to build up that were worth reading. (I say this with all due respect, of course, for the authors posting high quality material on the site to begin with.) Halfway through January I posted one more fic I'd been working on lately, Registered Alien, and checked out my alerts, and that was it. Until now. _

_And it worked! This forum hasn't looked so good to me since I first discovered it. On the first couple of new pages I see quite a few really well-written stories... with some very original ideas... and to top it all, thejennamonster came back and Dust Traveller updated. _

_I'll still be around from time to time of course. You didn't think I was going to leave the situation that way, did you? _


	4. Chapter 4

Warning: This chapter contains a description of animal abuse. Just like countless other fics posted here contain descriptions of child abuse.

Disclaimer: I don't own Invader Zim. But I have owned several dogs.

Chapter Four

Through the woods, the trees grew more and more naked every day as the leaves continued to fall, building in ever growing piles on the ground.

Dib took the puppy along on all his Sasquatch hunts. They slipped behind bushes, peering out carefully for any sign of anything furry moving. Well, anything big and furry, anything that even slightly resembled the creature they had seen that memorable night on "Mysterious Mysteries." Dib never saw what he was looking for, but with company, it was at least lots more fun.

The hunt concluded for that day, Dib pulled a ball out of his pocket. He held it high until he had Sas's attention, then threw it and watched in delight as Sas dashed off after it, the hind legs pushing out behind him at every step, all four legs a blur of motion as he clattered heedlessly through the fallen leaves. Sas ran so fast that he shot right past the ball. Turning his head, mouth open to catch the ball, he fell down in a flurry of scattering leaves and rolled over, but never once did his eyes leave the ball. He located the ball before the leaves settled to hide it from view, then trotted back to Dib carrying the ball in his mouth, head high and tail wagging. Dib took the ball and threw it again and once more watched in delight as Sas ran after it as madly as ever.

Knowing Gaz's love of games, Dib had at one point asked if she wanted to play ball with him. Needless to say, he soon stopped asking. He now found in the puppy a much more willing playmate. Even now, when Dib had tried to show Gaz all the tricks the puppy had learned, she stirred herself only long enough to growl, "Shut up so I can finish my game or I'll make you both sorry."

- - - - - - -

When it finally got so cold that even playing fetch wasn't enough to keep them warm, Dib and Sas went back inside. Dib gave Sas a dog biscuit and watched him enjoy it while water boiled for the hot chocolate.

As Dib went back upstairs to his room, Sas followed at his heels. Dib sat down on the bed and got comfortable. Sas stood up to join him and Dib put a hand on his back, offering enough leverage to help Sas to pull himself up. Dib placed his hot chocolate on the window sill to prevent Sas from spilling it, but Sas sat down and looked up at Dib as if to say, "Well, what are we doing for fun now?"

Dib suddenly looked up from the Ghost Hunters magazine he was reading. "Hey! Wanna hear what I think, Sas?"

Hearing Dib say his name, Sas looked up, ears perked. This was enough of an audience for Dib to begin listing all his reasons for believing in ghosts.

Dib stretched out on his stomach and got comfortable, then began to outline/read out all the proofs he'd heard or collected for the existence of ghosts.

Dib went on and on, listing one case history after another, not leaving out a single scrap of evidence. Sas lay down, got comfortable and gazed up into Dib's face as the boy talked on and on. Nobody else had ever done that for Dib since his mother had died. Certainly Gaz had never listened to him this closely!

Finally, carried away by his own eloquence, Dib asked, "Well, am I right?'

Sas's ear twitched; he sat up quickly and scratched his head. "Oh come on!" Dib protested. "What is there to think about? I know it's a lot, but the more that's been found, the more it means some of it has to be true!"

Sas looked back up into Dib's eyes and sighed.

"I knew you'd see it my way!" Dib grabbed Sas and hugged him, letting the puppy go when he began to squirm.

- - - - - - -

One morning when the puppy was about four months old, Gaz found him with one of her shoes chewed to shreds between his paws. Restless the night before, the puppy had gone in search of something that would ease the itching in his jaws. He had on occasion chewed up an old shoe without any consequences, and because dogs do not wear shoes, to a dog a shoe is a shoe.

Gaz liked things to remain the same, and when she was displeased in any way, she reacted with swift and excessive retaliation. She now clenched first her jaws, then her entire face. This must not be allowed to go unpunished.

First this stupid dog runs off to be with Dib... and as if that wasn't enough, he comes back just long enough to destroy something of hers! What if he had found not her shoe, but her GameSlave... !

Gaz glowered down at the puppy, as blinded by rage at this mere thought as if a beam of unnatural light was enclosing her. Allowing her own fury to swallow her up, Gaz could literally feel herself hovering in midair. This had to be punished. This must not be allowed to happen again.

As Gaz began snarling the most obscene threats she could think of, the puppy cringed miserably, trembling and turning his head from side to side as if surrounded by a ring of fire. As Gaz began to literally see red, the puppy finally whirled and fled in panic. He clearly remembered now what happened when Dib caught him chewing up something he wasn't supposed to; he was going to get a scolding.

The puppy whirled and bolted down the stairs into the lab, hastily finding a cranny into which Gaz couldn't reach. "I'll doom you!" she howled, in hot pursuit of the terrified animal.

Gaz quickly found him. Gritting her teeth, she ordered the puppy to get out before she...

Slowly, the puppy crawled out of its hiding place, shivering and holding out a paw in a feeble plea for mercy.

Gaz stalked right up to the puppy, and without another word proceeded to beat him up. Repeatedly and unmercifully, she choked the puppy... and she punched the puppy... and she swung the puppy through the air... and she stomped on the puppy.

Suddenly Gaz stopped... for a second Sas thought it was finally over... before Gaz decided she was still mad and stomped on the puppy once more.

By the time Gaz stalked in triumph from the room, Sasquatch looked severely beaten.

Dib knew something was strange as soon as the puppy didn't come running to greet him the moment he opened his bedroom door. Dib went straight to the dog's bed, wondering if he was sick, and there found the puppy cringing and trembling.

"What happened, Sas? What is it, boy?"

The puppy had obviously been smacked around, but wasn't bleeding, and he could lift his paw as if to beg for help; Dib fought down the lump in his throat as he made sure all of the puppy's legs were still working while the little tail tapped feebly. No bones seemed to be broken, but the puppy was clearly terrified.

Dib looked into the kitchen, at the only possible source of Sas's injuries, and saw Gaz steadily munching down some cereal. Her face, stonier than ever, did not exactly invite any questions... not even something as neutral as "How are you today?"

His father had already left, in fact he was home less and less often these days, and whenever Dib did request advice on how to deal with Gaz's brutality, the Professor merely repeated that she was some sort of "little sister" and that he was supposed to laugh off the injuries and "protect" her. From what, or better yet, why, Dib couldn't imagine.

Dib now stepped back and called Sas to see how he was walking. While the puppy limped a bit, he was still using all four legs. Dib decided that a trip to the vet was in order, but he would have to go to skool first, and hurry home that afternoon if he was to make it to the vet's office before it closed.

But Dib figured he'd better look something up first. Before long he was sitting at his desk, the breakfast he'd prepared waiting beside his keyboard, and cradling Sasquatch safely between his feet.

Dib booted up his computer for a quick search on the phrase "animal abuse." What he found disturbed him greatly, and it wasn't only the things that had been done to the animals, horrible though those were. The first page described a dog that had had something done to it which, thank goodness, Gaz hadn't ever done to Sasquatch. She certainly HAD done to Dib himself though, and more than once at that.

The difference was that whoever had done it to the dog had ended up in prison.

"Out of the question, no matter how you look at it," Dib muttered. Children, impulsive, cruel and self-centred though they could be, didn't go to prison; it was the duty of their parents to discipline them. But with their mother dead and their father absent, who could possibly discipline Gaz? Dib? Yeah, right. She lashed out at him like any psychopath if he even talked too much for her liking.

And no matter how many times he tried telling a neighbor, a relative, somebody! what Gaz had just done to him, nobody ever believed him. Gaz just sat there playing video games as if butter wouldn't melt in her mouth. While doing so might make her look innocent enough, this actually showed her total lack of concern for the pain and terror she had caused. The most that ever happened was Dib got reproached for trying to get his "poor little baby sister" in trouble... a so-called "poor little baby sister" that would viciously assault him the moment they were alone again for daring to try to protect himself.

What happened to the dog in that story on the website? Dib now wondered. Reading on a little further, he learned that it had been placed in a new home. Frantically Dib told himself there had to be another solution; Sasquatch was his only friend!

All that day this thought was never far from his mind, and when he came home from skool, he watched carefully. This time Sas cringed and waited until Gaz was no longer standing next to Dib in the doorway before he ran, a little less quickly than he used to, up to Dib, still watching Gaz warily.

For Dib, Sas's nervousness settled the matter. It wasn't fair to ask Sasquatch to live that way. He looped the leash around Sas's neck and took the puppy to the vet as he had decided to do. At the vet's office he found himself getting frowned at as much as if he had come right out and said he had deliberately injured the puppy.

That evening, with the puppy nestled safely under his desk, Dib searched and searched on his computer far into the night for a different outcome for animal abuse situations. But web page after web page, case after case, the solution was always the same. Find the animal a new home...find the animal a new home...

Find the animal a new home.

(A/N)_ If Gaz's reaction when she saw the chewed shoe looks familiar, it should. It's the same oh so adooorably cuuute and daaarling (_retch and puke_) thing she did in the second half of Taster of Pork... canon._


	5. Chapter 5

I don't own Invader Zim. But I have owned several dogs.

Chapter Five

Dib sighed as he hung up the phone. He wouldn't even consider an animal shelter, so it took quite a while for him to gather his courage before calling the pet shop... the one across town to be on the safe side. Gaz almost never went anywhere other than skool, so the chance of her catching sight of Sas in the pet shop or in somebody else's back yard was rather remote. No chance at all was best, of course, but this was a risk Dib would have to take to ensure Sas's safety.

He had found out the pet shop not only took puppies, but also just happened to have an empty puppy cage at the moment. They didn't pay anything for the puppies, but that was just as well. No money could have compensated Dib for what he had finally admitted he had to do.

For obvious reasons, Dib couldn't enlist the help of any relative. This had to be secret and untraceable, or he could end up facing consequences he didn't care to even think about.

As much as he dreaded the very thought of doing so, he knew he'd better set out for the pet shop before somebody else brought in one or more puppies and filled the free cage.

Dib went back to his room and took it out now, the really good, durable, braided leash which he had bought to give Sas for Christmas. He would give it to him now.

Dib had planned to sneak up behind Sas and snap the leash onto his collar before slipping out of the house with as little excitement as possible, but as Dib lifted the leash off its hook, the sound alone brought Sas bounding up to him, claws eagerly pattering over the floor. Dib fought back a sudden surge of emotion, trying to work up the will to walk out of the house with his best friend knowing he would come back alone. It hurt already, but Dib knew that the longer he put off doing this, the harder it would be when he finally did. He left the house with Sas before the tears could begin spilling over.

By now, no more warmth was remaining in the days. If it warmed up at all nowadays, it only did so late in the afternoon. Today the sun was hiding behind a cloud, denying the earth even that tendril of warmth. All the leaves had fallen. The wind was raw and cold, whining through the naked branches overhead.

Even though this walk took them all the way across town, the longest walk he had ever taken with Sas, it was all too soon before they were standing before the pet shop. Nearing the store, Dib slowed.

The pet shop door opened and out walked a boy carrying a large pet carrier with a plastic bag tied around the handle. Dib could hear the shriek of a parrot before the door swung shut, and smelled the sawdust a moment later. Though Dib wanted to turn and run, Sas now leaned into his collar, fascinated by all the sounds and smells, of the kittens, the rabbits, the other puppies, and the dog food that had wafted out through the open door. If he only knew!

Dib glanced down at Sas, knowing only too well how Gaz reacted when she was angry. He now recalled being himself choked, punched, swung through the air, stomped on repeatedly... Helping Sas to escape being treated like that would be the next best thing to Dib escaping it himself; looking at it that way would help him get through the next few minutes. Taking a deep breath, Dib somehow forced himself to push open the door of the pet shop and walk inside.

Birds chirped endlessly in cages overhead and brightly colored fish darted back and forth inside stacks of aquariums, but Dib neither heard nor saw any of them. Slowly he walked straight up to the counter.

A young woman in a bright red golf shirt was standing behind the counter, tidying an already tidy display of choke chains and muzzles, muttering something about cheapskate bosses creating nothing themselves but unnecessary work. Finally she turned around for more that were lying on the counter and upon seeing Dib, summoned up a dutiful smile. "Can I help you?"

"H- Hello, I'm Dib," he managed to say. "We spoke on the phone. I... I... " Dib swallowed and pointed to Sas, who stood looking up at the woman with friendly, inquisitive eyes, panting a little from the long walk, his hairy ears pertly held up and his tail fanning gently. At last Dib managed to say, "... the puppy."

The woman's smile began to fade. "He looks a lot older than two months old to me."

"I said he was just a little older than two months."

"By how much a little older?"

"Just two months older isn't much older."

"So he's four months old, you're telling me." The woman shook her head slowly. "We don't usually take puppies over eight weeks, ten at the absolute, outside most. Sorry. There's probably room at the animal shelter though." She picked up another handful of muzzles, but paused before turning back to her task, obviously waiting for Dib to leave.

For a second Dib couldn't speak, couldn't breathe. Leaving him at the animal shelter would be a death sentence, but turning him loose outdoors, in the hope that someone else would pick him up, in that cold and wind they'd just come through, was unthinkable. Through the silence he finally heard the yelping of the other puppies already in the store. He turned toward them, squirming and wrestling in their cages... and just for being a tiny bit older than they were, Sasquatch was being refused this chance to find a safer home... the same way everybody laughed off how Gaz abused him just because he was a tiny bit older than...

To his horror Dib suddenly found himself crying right in the store, crying no matter how many other people could hear him, he didn't even know he was going to, he just couldn't help it. Sas immediately stood up on his hind legs and braced his paws against Dib's T-shirt, whining as he reached up with his tongue to lick Dib's face...

"I can't bring him home!" Dib choked out. "I can't even tell you why I can't! I just can't! I can't I can't I... "

At this, the woman frowned. Maybe this kid brought the dog here because one of his parents was abusing the dog? Maybe the kid as well? She set down the muzzles, stepped out from behind the counter and began to gently rub a hand over Dib's shoulder until his crying began to slow down somewhat.

Thinking this meant he had a chance to persuade her, Dib desperately began to protest. "But he IS still a puppy! He's not that old! And he's housetrained besides! He'll never touch a shoe again, I promise! He's even learned some... some..."

Dib's sobbing trailed off as the pet shop woman stooped down, tilting Dib's chin upwards so she could look him in the eye. "You won't get in trouble, I promise you, but I have to know something." She licked her lips and took a deep breath. "Does your mother or father hurt you or hurt this dog?" she asked seriously.

Dib could honestly shake his head no to that one.

"But someone's still making you do this?"

Dib nodded vigorously, his eyes filled with pain.

"It's that bad?"

Dib continued nodding.

Nobody who doesn't care about animals can work at a pet shop for long, and the woman reminded Dib of her earlier suggestion.

"I'll tell you what, though. There's an animal shelter I know not far - "

"NO! They kill them there! My dad said so!" Horrified, Dib reached out and covered Sasquatch with his arms.

"It's okay, this is a no-kill shelter," the woman explained. "That means none of the dogs get put down, no matter how long they take to find a home."

Dib kept his arms over Sas. "How do you know?" An hour ago she'd said to bring Sas in; he didn't know what to believe any more.

"I used to volunteer there a lot until I got this job, and I still go in when somebody else can't make it, so that's how I know. And I bet you this dog would get in because he's got a really good chance of being adopted! He's young, he's small, and he's not black, so he - "

"Not black?" Frowning, Dib looked up from Sas. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"People think black dogs bite more. It's not true, of course, but that's what people think. In the movies, the bad guy rides the black horse and wears the black hat and wears the black coat and - oh I'm sorry!" she broke off in embarrassment, noticing the color of Dib's trench coat.

But Dib was thinking only about what would happen to Sas at this shelter. Dogs could be unwanted because they were too young not to chew up shoes, because they were too old to fit somebody's idea of what a puppy was, even because they were the wrong color...

But the woman seemed to think Sasquatch had at least some things going for him... and he sure couldn't bring the dog home again, much less turn him loose. He could only hope the shelter wasn't anywhere near his own neighborhood... if Gaz saw Sas in somebody else's yard all involved would find themselves with hell to pay.

Dib now looked the woman in the eye. "Are you SURE he'll get in?"

"I can't promise anything, but his chances are really good."

Dib sighed. He wasn't sure of Sas getting into the shelter, but Sas was sure NOT getting into this pet shop. "Okay. Where is it?"

"It's not far, just straight down the road that way. " Much to Dib's relief, she pointed in the direction opposite the one Dib had come from, and quickly described how to get to the shelter. "You'll hear it before you see it! I'll call and tell them you're coming." She reached for the phone, but Dib's voice stopped her.

"No don't... please." If this was Sasquatch's last hope, Dib didn't want to give them a chance to say no too.

"Are you sure?"

Dib nodded, finally releasing his hold on Sas. "Yes. Yes, I'm sure."

The woman longed to do something for this unhappy child, so she took a bone shaped biscuit from a jar marked "Samples" and offered it to Dib.

Dib told Sas to "Sit" and "Shake" for the treat. Sas was clearly expecting to get the treat then, but Dib tried one more time to get Sas to beg. This time, Sas gathered himself before raising a paw... and this time when he begged, he did NOT fall over!

The woman clapped. "What a smart dog!" Swelling with pride, Dib found himself smiling a little in spite of everything. It had been a long time indeed since anybody had offered him such compassion, had tried to comfort and help him when he was crying, instead of scolding him for not sucking it up as if he was a grown adult, and curtly ordering him to be brave for -

Oh. THAT was it.

No younger child around at the moment apparently made it okay to actually comfort him when he was upset. Well, when Gaz was around, he was only older than her... he wasn't somehow any older than himself!

Dib took the dog treat and fed it to Sas, before thanking the woman and taking the puppy once more out into the cold.

All too soon, he could hear the barking.

As they walked past the dog pens on the way to the steps, Sas hung back, sniffing, wagging his tail and adding his little woofs to the steady chorus of noise. It was all Dib could do to urge Sas to keep walking; he'd get to see them from the inside all too soon. Dib noted with relief that at least they were clean, not like some dog pens he'd been reading about lately...

Dib kept telling himself that this was a good place to bring a dog.

People volunteer here... volunteers are the good people...

He climbed the steps to a little porch. He went up to the front door and entered without knocking, and looked around.

This is a no-kill shelter...

He saw a man at a desk and a woman on the phone.

This is a no-kill shelter, it said so on the sign so that means they can't ...

Somebody noticed him and began coming over...

Dib said, "This is my - this is a dog who needs a home. He's a good dog, and he's housetrained, and he's little and he'll eat bologna and he likes walks and he's just a pup, and he's the right color, see? And guess what? He knows tricks, too... Sit, Sas, shake... "

Dib stepped back as the puppy sat.

And as the puppy began to paw at the shelter worker...

Dib fled. Fled before they could come up with a reason to say no, fled before the puppy would see Dib running out on him, fled before he himself started crying...

With blurring eyes Dib hurtled down the stairs and sped past the pen full of barking dogs and ran around the corner and past something and over something else before running into an alley where he could sink alone to the ground, crying his heartbreak to the empty air, howling what he so desperately needed to hear somebody say to him at that moment.

"I'm sorry Sas, I'm sorry! For... forgive me!"

He lay flat on the ground crying with guilt and grief, crying aloud so he wouldn't be able to hear his mind imagining Sas's whines when he realized Dib had left him there...

Dib cried. Alone.

- - - - - - -

His tears exhausted at last, Dib caught a bus home and sank into the first empty seat he saw. He felt numb all over and deep inside.

When he saw his house he pulled the cord and got off at the next stop and mechanically walked back.

okay

_Best to get it over with now,_ Dib figured. _I can't feel any worse than I do right now._

He blurted it out. "Gaz, have you seen Sas?"

"Shut up."

"Did you see him?" Dib dared to persist.

"I don't care where that stupid dog is so shut up!"

Dib swallowed, "I wonder if he ran away."

"I hope that idiot dog did run away; at least now I won't get my shoes chewed up all the time now SHUT UP!"

In silence Dib slowly walked upstairs to his room. He sat on his bed and lay back on it, staring up at the ceiling. Sasquatch was safe... and Gaz hadn't even beaten him up for it after all.

Dib rolled over and stared at his bedspread.

_So why do I feel so empty?_

_(A/N) No, this isn't the end. There's one more chapter to go, and I will put it up soon. Yes, I promise. _

--


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own Invader Zim. But I have owned several dogs.

Chapter Six

Even with all the free time he now found himself with these days, Dib soon found that he didn't want to do much, not even hunt for ghosts or vampires... and least of all for Sasquatches. Everywhere he looked, he kept expecting Sas to come bounding out of the bushes running up to him, barking excitedly after having spotted a squirrel or a bird. Even going for a walk around the block, which he had enjoyed so much recently, was suddenly anything but fun any more.

These days, Dib often looked up into the sky. He had to do something to keep those obsessive thoughts out of his head. He'd see no dogs up there. He might see an alien spaceship though.

Dib kept telling himself that with no dog to give him extra work, no dog with whom to roam the woods and vacant lots, he could once again climb the ladder to the roof to better watch on the skies. Once again pulling the ladder up out of Gaz's reach Dib sat down in the spot on the roof which was free of snow and which offered the widest view of the sky. He prepared to set up his telescope and satellite dish. The roof would offer refuge from the constant expectation that Sas would come along, breaking Dib's concentration by licking his foot or ear until the boy dissolved into giggles.

He knew Sas was gone, knew it only too well, and yet as Dib peered out through his telescope he found he could somehow still feel that warm tongue noisily pushing into his ear...

Dib lifted a hand to wipe his eyes. Would he never again be able to look through a telescope without wondering what had happened to Sas? Forbidden by all to show, or even to feel, anger at Gaz, Dib hated himself for running away and leaving the dog.

With a heavy sigh, Dib took out his telescope and set it up, but found his hands of their own accord aiming it toward the other side of town and re-focusing it. _If it could bring heavenly objects a little closer, why not earthly objects a lot closer?_ But even at the lowest magnification the images remained too blurry to tell him anything. Or was that tears?

Dib turned aside from the telescope and wrapped his arms around his knees, finally dropping all attempts to restrict the thought to the back of his mind. Once again he debated riding the bus that went to the other side of town.

If he could just once see Sas, even in somebody else's yard, he would know for sure that the dog had found another home and was well cared for and safe. But he could take the bus to the other side of town every day without ever seeing Sas, which would leave him as much in the dark as ever. Even if Sas had been adopted, as the pet shop girl had assured him he would be, who was to say his new owners wouldn't lose interest the way Gaz had? If Dib saw him in a dirty dog pen or tied to a neglected doghouse, that would be unbearable. Sas would still be mistreated, and what would be worse, Dib would now be unable to help him.

On the other hand, Dib couldn't seem to keep his mind on anything else these days. Once more he looked toward the other side of town, and remembered that his was the time he usually walked Sasquatch. Dib looked around and took a deep breath, and resolved to catch the bus to the other side of town the next day.

- - - - - 

Staring anxiously out the window from the first empty seat he could find on the bus, Dib found himself hating each person who stood up to get off at the next stop, or who got up to move to another seat. He had even less patience than usual with having his view blocked; only a second of distraction would cause him to miss Sas, that is, if he was outdoors and on this route at all. Every time he saw a dog, any color or any size, Dib jumped. So small was Sas that any one of the snowbanks could hide him at a crucial moment.

In one way it would be easier if Dib got off the bus to search, but if Sas saw him the dog would probably want to come home with him and that wasn't a scene Dib would care to go through.

With increasingly impatience as the bus rounded the furthest point of its route, Dib craned his neck and looked around more anxiously. The bus was heading home again... and he still hadn't seen Sasquatch!

Dib stood up in the center aisle of the bus, looked wildly around, and selected a seat on the other side of the bus, causing the bus driver to raise an eyebrow.

Then Dib caught sight of something, something that froze the breath in his throat. He was almost afraid to look and yet he had to.

It was a puppy... a puppy of the same color as Sas. This one was a little larger but that was to be expected.

He was on a leash... being taken for a walk. His leash was the same color as the one Dib had bought for him and used only once. Two children were walking along on the end of the leash. In a near trance, Dib stood up and made his way toward the back of the bus as it passed the trio on the sidewalk, to squirm between two big frowning teenagers on the back seat of the bus, to keep Sas in view for as long as he could.

The puppy was being walked, by two children. He was now a little older, a little bigger, and by this time he was the long-legged kind of clumsy instead of the short-legged clumsy. He trotted happily along as a boy held the leash with his sister holding the very end of the leash. Dib stared out the window at them, and sighed deeply. That never would have happened in the house to which he was returning.

The kids slowed to switch places so the girl would get her turn being closer to the puppy. Immediately the puppy turned around, grabbed the leash with his mouth and began to tug on it impatiently, just as Sas had always done whenever Dib slowed to make sure he hadn't seen a UFO or a ghost instead of a cloud formation or a grocery bag drifting before the wind. Then the animal made a gesture that definitely identified him. The puppy began pawing at them, just as Sas had always done whenever he wanted something. It was Sas; it had to be! Somehow, he had made them understand when it was time for his walk! And they had bothered to find out what he wanted! Dib smiled for the first time in weeks, and a tear rolled unheeded down his face. Instead of a tear of sorrow, this was a tear of relief. Sas was in good hands.

Knowing that all was well on the planet earth, Dib rode the bus back home, climbed the ladder to the roof, and once again turned his telescope to the skies.

The End


End file.
